


Ickle Firsties

by LyraWrites



Series: One Man's Darker Time Line Is Another's Salvation [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Fluff, Gen, Hogwarts First Year, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slytherin James Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24247417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraWrites/pseuds/LyraWrites
Summary: Some points in time are set; some are not. The Dark Lord must rise. James Potter's house sorting? Up to fate's hands. In a world where James Fleamont Potter was sorted in Slytherin which time points are kept and which change? This series explores James Potter's unhealthy co-dependence and relationship with Severus Snape, their years at Hogwarts, the war and even his relationship with his son.This installment: It started with one very confused James Potter being sorted into Slytherin. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! It wasn't fair! He was supposed to be in the same house as Sirius, Remus and Lily... not with the surly boy from the train carriage!But is the boy and Slytherin House really all that bad?
Relationships: James Potter/Severus Snape
Series: One Man's Darker Time Line Is Another's Salvation [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727863
Comments: 11
Kudos: 106





	Ickle Firsties

“Slytherin!” The hat roared and he felt his insides chill. Wasn’t the hat supposed to take your choices into account? Numbly, James Potter stood up from the stool and walked over to the Slytherin table where is was greeted with smiles and polite welcomes. The Potter family was not a traditional, solely Gryffindor family, but his father had been, and he really wanted to follow in his footsteps. Heck even Ravenclaw would have been okay, like his mother. The next space that was free was right next to Severus Snape, the boy who he marked for his school nemesis on the train. The boy was everything James was not but smart and scathing, it would have been fun to have brought him down a few pegs in the name of house honour. But now they were... housemates. His expression soured. He could sit one space over or a couple spaces over, but he did not want to alienate housemates off the bat especially with others watching. He sat, and saw Severus arch an eyebrow. His shoulder hunched forward and he watched the rest of the sorting.

When Sirius’ name got called, James sat up a bit. On the train the boy was adamant he was going to be in Gryffindor, but maybe the hat was going to put him in Slytherin like the rest of his family? His hopes were dashed however when the hat called Gryffindor. The hall was deathly quiet. Unlike the Potter name, the Blacks were notorious and extremely proud of their Slytherin heritage, even their oddballs who didn’t quite fit the mould were Slytherins. He could see the shocked faces of his housemates and hands fall from the clapping position. The Gryffindors were clearly caught off guard and didn’t start clapping until Professor McGonagall lead the charge, followed by the other members of faculty.

As Black took his place in Gryffindor table, their eyes met. Sirius gave him a small wave. James smiled weakly and wave back. His heart sank. Both Remus and Sirius had been sorted in Gryffindor, even Lily Evans had been. Apart from those students in his carriage he hadn’t bothered learning anyone else’s name. Well, except the Slytherin boy next to his own. The boy in question gave him a funny look.

“You don’t have to look so disappointed you know! It’s not like you are studying in different countries. You can still hang out with them. I’m definitely eating breakfast with Lily tomorrow. You just got sorted into the best house, you can have the best of both worlds.” Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

To which James huffed and exclaimed, “Don’t you know anything? Slytherins and Gryffindors are enemies! Always have been and always will be.”

“Despite popular belief, you don’t have to be or do anything just because you are a Slytherin.” Came a warm voice. This came from a light brown haired older student. “Andromeda Black, welcome to Slytherin.

  
James frowned. “But everyone knows that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor hated each other!”

The girl laughed. “What other thousand-year concepts do you let dictate your life? Look, you are in charge of how you want your school years to be at Hogwarts.”

A blonde girl opposite Andromeda snorted into her spiced apple juice. “Of course, you would say that. Look kids, before Andy fills your heads with dreams here’s the reality: Gryffindors are determined to be rude to us and we don’t bend over backwards to be nice to those rude to us. And we shouldn’t have to be. The other houses are… okay… they are decent enough, but you will quickly find that only other Slytherins will understand you.”

Weirdly enough, the same snort came from Andromeda. “Of course, you would say that, Cissy!” Mocked Andromeda. "There are a lot of idiots on both sides of the fence on this, but it's just a bit of childish house rivalry. It doesn't actually mean anything once you get into the real world."  
  
The blonde girl on her right rolled her eyes. "Well, if you are smart you will make all the right connections at school before entering the real world. It just happens that all those worth connecting with come from the same house... although some more than others." She finished sneering at the state of Snapes' clothes.  
  
James grimaced, all at once feeling the need to jump up and defend his year mate, but also ashamed all at the same time. This was his house for Merlin's sake! This was everything horrible he had heard. Cold, cruel and ruthless to even their own.  
  
Upon seeing his expression, Andromeda frowned and said in hushed tones. "You get this from the extremists of this house, but as long as you stay away from them, you'll be right. There are a couple of loud bad apples in each house." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.  
  
James smiled weakly. This girl gave him hope. "So it's not mandatory to be a rich, entitled, pureblood dickhead to be a Slytherin then?"  
  
The girl burst out in laughter but before she could say anything the voice of Snape cut in. "Sounds like you belong perfectly then."  
  
James' mouth dropped. Never in his life had anyone said anything remotely like that to him. He was James Fleamont Henry Potter, no one had really dared to make a joke at his expense before. He didn't really know what he was feeling apart from shock. "Do- do you know who you are even talking to?!"  
  
Snape straightened and puffed out his chest. "It was just a joke, you know! But you are sort of proving me right anyways."  
  
Darn it, the other boy was right. But he would rather eat his mother's own terrible cooking than to admit it. With only one thing to do, he retaliated with, "At least I'm not the only Slytherin who is wearing tatters for robes!"  
  
"Couldn't have sounded more like a pureblood dickhead, if I tried!" Snape said throwing his words back at him.  
  
James felt the blood flush to his cheeks. "From where I am sitting, I'm not the pureblood who made dickish comments in the first place."  
  
"Ha! Every word of what you said is wrong. " Snape sniped. "Good job sounding like an idiot too!"  
Before James could come back with something witty, Andromeda cut in. "That's enough. Any more jabs from the two of you and I will have to deduct points. Don’t make us start the year in negatives!" It was then that James noticed the badge over her robes. Oh, a prefect.

Snape huffed and turned his back on to him and they both finished their meal in silence. What a git. He looked over to the Gryffindor table. He saw Remus, Sirius and another boy talking animatedly. There were smiles all around. He mumbled angrily as he bit into his chicken leg. Stupid hat, stupid Slytherin.  
  
Later that night, when they were in their dorm he was dismayed to find that not only was he in the same dorm as Snape, the other three boys in their dorm had all met before and got along famously therefore wanted their beds right next to each other. Therefore it left Snape’s bed right next to James’. Great. James had agreed not wanting to sow any discomfort his very first night. However, trying to make the best of a bad situation, he made conversation and once he started conversation with the other three he found that they were pleasant enough.  
  
One of the boys was named Ashcroft, the other two (who were twins), Thimbleton. What surprised him was that the four of them all loved the same quidditch team!! And from there conversation was easy, they talked madly about their favourite positions, the worst and best team combinations and finally James admitted to wanting to play in second year. To which the others had cheered and wished him luck, Ashcroft heard from his sister that a spot on the team was highly coveted. James dismissed this with a wave and responded with, "well they never seen me fly! Dad got me the new Comet last summer and I swear, as soundless as an owl in flight. They will never even see me coming!"  
  
Conversation went pleasantly on into the night until Prefect Malfoy came to introduce himself and told them where their classes were, giving them very detailed directions. He even set a dorm alarm which won't stop until every member is out of bed. He set it for 6 which made everyone groan. "Breakfast your first day will be important. Never underestimate your first day. It will set how your peers and professors view you. Stick together, you want to present as a united front, especially against some of the nastier people from the other houses." He bade them all a good night and left them.  
  
Having now heard that there was to be an alarm going off at 6am, the boys showered, brushed and changed. James had forgotten his pyjamas in the dorm and as he entered he saw Snape with his head in his shirt as he was undressing and what was more concerning a massive boot print bruise across his skinny stomach and smaller ones on his chest. He gasped and hid around the wall. He didn't know why he did that, but instinct took over.  
  
He stayed there, wrapped in a towel until he heard the other boy climb into bed. This prompted him to enter, when he did, he couldn't quite look over in the other's direction. He bade Ashcroft and the Thimbleton brothers good night and they blew out their respective candles.  
  
He expected sleep to find him easily, after all it was well past 11 and he had a huge day but his mind was a mess. Him, a Slytherin? The new dorm friends he had made seemed alright. What would classes be like? What about Sirius and Remus should he give them up? Snape did say he was going to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. But Malfoy said to stick together? Would that be allowed? Why did the boy have such massive bruises?  
  
He mind was a jumble of thoughts and feelings. Prefect Malfoy was correct. Tomorrow would be an important and big day... so why couldn't he sleep? Judging by the stillness and the gentle snores, sleep had found his other compatriots. He tossed and turned, forced his eyes closed and tried counting nifflers but to no avail. He huffed and threw his arms against the sheet.  
  
"Do you mind?" Whisper yelled the boy from his right.  
  
"Not my fault I can't sleep! What's it to you anyways, not like I'm singing from the top of my lungs." He hissed back.  
  
Silence met him. Good. He turned over to his side, and screwed his eyes shut. Sleep, sleep, sleep!! And when he couldn't he flipped back and opened the curtains of his bed. "Now I'm too angry to sleep! And it's your fault!"  
  
He heard rustling and someone pull apart their curtain, "Oh, so when you are the one who can't get to sleep because of me, then it's a problem!"  
  
"What I do in the privacy of my own bed is my business. Not my fault you are kneazle sleeper"  
  
"A what?" Came the response.  
  
James rolled his eyes. "I said 'not my fault you are a kneazle sleeper.'"  
  
"I heard what you said! But it doesn't make sense. What's a nee-zel?"  
  
Was the other boy joking? "Are you dumb? Everyone knows what a kneazle is! Four legs, furry, pointy ears, tail?"  
  
"... a cat?"  
  
"No, not a cat, have you been living under a rock? A lot of witch or wizarding families have one, you would have come across it once at least."  
  
The next part came as a mumble but James heard it all the same. "I haven't had a chance to visit wizarding families. I live in Muggle England and had been raised that way for most of my life."  
  
And with that sentence, it was like a several dozen puzzle pieces fell into place. His comments over dinner, why he was best friends with a muggle-born, why he didn't join in the quidditch conversation with him and the others. "You are a muggleborn?! Why would you choose Slytherin so adamantly?!"  
  
"I'm not a muggleborn! I'm half... my mum's a witch, a Slytherin. My father... didn't want to live in the wizarding world, so we didn't." The last part was said so hesitantly that James knew that it held more weight than what was said. The flashes of those bruises came to mind, but he didn't say anything. But what held James' interest was the fact that a Slytherin married a... muggle? That was wild! Halfies are probably the rarest as most witch or wizards don't choose to give up magic, and those who were born to muggle families had to be taught somewhere and Hogwarts was where they ended up. Maybe Andromeda was right? Maybe Slytherins just had a bad reputation?  
  
It was an awkward silence that had failed between the two of them, So James rushed to say, "oh, sorry, I didn't know..." 

"Is... is it a bad thing to be half? My father... my father doesn't like magic too much. Does it go the other way around too? Do people with magic not like people without?"  
  
James paused and thought about what his father had said, "it doesn't matter in the sense that you can be just as powerful and skilled as a pureblood. Anyone worth their wand can tell you that. But... there are so few wizards compared to muggles and so much we don't know about genealogy why would anyone risk having a squib- a non-magical child?" He clarified.  
  
"So squibs are created between a magic bearer and a muggle?" Snape asked.  
  
James bit his lip and answered to the best of his knowledge. "I don't know all that much... but I remember the Blacks having a squib a few years ago, it made headlines on the Prophet for ages!"

"Is that a news program on the wizard telly?"  
  
"Telly?"  
"Telly as in television. You know the big box that has knobs and switches, many programs and channels. You can have cartoons on or movies... like moving projected stories? Or moving news that is broadcasted live."  
  
James was enraptured. "I have no idea what half those words are but that sounds so cool! You have moving cartoons? I'm so jealous" He didn't know when but during their conversation he had shifted over to the very edge of his bed and he can see the other boys face illuminated in the moonlight. He was blushing, as if no one had ever had reason to be jealous of him before.  
  
"Yeah... they are pretty good."  
  
They then talked the night away with James asking Severus anything he could think about the Muggle world and Severus asking things he would need to learn to blend into wizarding society. James couldn’t blame him, there was a steep learning curve in Slytherin if the conversations he tonight had were anything to go by. Despite them coming from such different worlds, it was weird that he had the most to say and the conversation flowed the easiest. They were still a little on guard with each other after the tiffs they had, but it was hard to stay guarded. They had talked and talked until they both drifted off, however, this meant that poor James was last to rise and only by Severus' hand.  
  
"-up! Wake up!" The boy shook vigorously. "You know it is 7:00? That means only an hour and half for you to get up and have breakfast."  
  
James blearily reached for his glasses, yawned and stretched. The alarm ringing into his conscious mind. How had he managed to sleep through that? He saw the other boy fully dressed and ready for the day but didn't see a hint of the others.  
  
"They already left, I was about to as well but it seemed like you would go on sleeping right through the alarm!"  
  
James looked at the room and then at Severus. The boys he had gotten along with so well the night before just up and left him while Severus who fought him for most of last night stayed behind... James wouldn't know if the roles were reversed would he had done the same. Actually… he probably wouldn’t have given it another thought, to be honest, and just left for class leaving Severus to sleep.

He felt something click into place. He… he belonged here. He felt a bit annoyed by his other dorm mates but he understood. It wasn't that the other boys were mean, they got along fine the night before. But they didn't owe him anything and he didn't either, it wasn't personal. They just weren't invested yet. But Severus... he did the nice thing and stayed. The other night they had come to a truce, but it didn't feel like friendship. Severus just did this out of the goodness of his heart... he was the odd one in Slytherin, not James.  
  
"Come on Potter!! Hurry up! I actually want to see Lily today!" Came the whinge.  
  
"You seriously are going to sit with the Gryffindors?"  
  
"I don't see why not?"  
  
And with that response, it really emphasized the... muggleness of Severus that he didn't put any stock into the house rivalry because he didn't understand the meaning of it. James felt a weird protective streak come over him. Severus didn't know what a decisively stupid and isolating move he would be making.  
  
"... I think it's best if we sat with the other Slytherins over breakfast today." He could see the other's mouth open to protest, but James continued before he could, "It's the first day! Everyone will be making and solidifying friends, you will miss out on important house stuff right? 'Our house will be like our family'" he quoted the admissions lady. "So, let's get to know them! You don't want to only have one friend for the next 7 years right? Lily will wait if she is a true friend, and your best friend. She wouldn’t want you to miss out, right?"  
  
Severus closed his mouth and nodded, but clearly not fully convinced. So, James added, "you can meet with her at lunch or dinner. Come on, I am starving!" At this both their bellies growled and they laughed a little. His heart did a little victory dance. He liked making this Slytherin oddball laugh. James slapped an arm across his shoulder, "Give me 10 minutes to change and brush."  
  
He saw the other boy nod and smile at him. And when they had breakfast together with the others, James knew he made the right call as he integrated Severus into their dorm group. They got along really well and throughout the day moaned about charms, oohed and aahed in DADA and pulled faces at the squelching slime ball that was their herbology project.  
  
He managed to hold Severus off going to the Gryffindor table until the next morning's breakfast, to which he accompanied the other boy. Not wanting him to be singled out later by the others Slytherins. They formed a group made of: he, Severus Remus, Sirius, Lily and a boy named Peter. He was surprised to be welcomed and realised that he had much better rapport with this group. They complemented each other, it was their differences that made the other interesting and made all their shared points that much more surprising. But even though they got along so well...he knew. These people could easily be his friends, but Slytherin was family. You don't always get along with or choose your family, but they understand you in a way that friends did not without years of effort.  
  
James was confident that he and Severus could navigate both worlds, it just needed subtle moves. He could do that. For both their sakes.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the second installment. Every tale has to start somewhere, you wouldn't expect such cute firsties to turn out like they did, huh?
> 
> Stay tuned for the next of the series and please comment and leave kudos. They keep me going ;)


End file.
